Sunshine for Dark Minds

Product Notes

Randy Redroad - 'Sunshine For Dark Minds'. I made this record in Brooklyn, NY with my collaborator Arthur Schlenger, a world renowned hypochondriac and musical juggernaut. I had been writing songs for years, recording them on a Tascam four track with a crappy ten dollar microphone as the digital world passed me by. I chose the songs on this record from a collection of more than two hundred. Here's a little life story for each track. 'Soda Jerk' It seems like a flirty, smart ass song about girls, but the truth is, it was inspired by Elvis' early relationship with Priscilla. He had legal guardianship over her when she was still underage. Her parents agreed. Nobody could say no to him. What a different world. 'Lollipop' This song was inspired by my complicated thoughts about Christmas and how we are programmed to spend money whether we have it or not. It's really about the media. I was thinking about that moment when we're young and we find out there is no Santa Claus. They take Santa away and leave shopping and The Devil. I think that's interesting. What if they took the Devil away and left Santa? 'A Sun Song' This song appears on the Canadian compilation: Project One Generation. One of my best friends, Ason, passed away a few years ago. He always told me that he was Italian. Later, I found out he was actually Cherokee (like me). His real name was Jim. His mother called him Randy. So my Italian friend Ason, was really a Cherokee named Randy. He was one of the most interesting dudes you'd ever meet. Everything he did was original and creative. He wrote in a microscopic calligraphy. He wore parachute pants ten years after anyone else and didn't know it. I called him 'yesterpants'. I miss him. 'I Can Hardly Wait' This song is just about waiting for an old friend to come over. The kind you used to date. The kind where the conversation always turns volatile. The kind you adore, respect and just can't be around. 'Genius At Aggravation' No one can push your buttons like the people you grew up with. This started off being about my father, then became about families in general. The lyric 'It's coming out, blissfully now...' It's about making a scene in public. Know anybody who does that? 'Tongue' For my sister. One bad ass chick. 'Antenna Man' Another song about the media. Technology is always promising to solve our problems, make things faster, easier. The internet has turned us into predators, lurkers, voyeurs. What are we looking for? 'Eyes Like Engines' Kind of a dreamscape. I knew a girl who was getting her pilot license. I kinda liked her. 'Good Education' Noam Chomsky once said: 'It takes a good education to not see the truth.' Maybe I was onto something during all those naps. 'By Broken Sea' Eventually everything comes back around. Even people you never thought you'd see again. Nostalgia is a private detective. 'A Smile Behind' My friend Ason again. He once criticized the way I was throwing a football. He took out a pen and pad and wrote out mathematically what the physics should be for a tight aerodynamic spiral. Then he threw the ball, it wobbled aimlessly onto my porch and broke a planter. They are really just twelve pop songs with words that rhyme. I can't help it, I grew up in the eighties. Thanks for reading and, hopefully, listening. Randy Redroad.

Randy Redroad - 'Sunshine For Dark Minds'. I made this record in Brooklyn, NY with my collaborator Arthur Schlenger, a world renowned hypochondriac and musical juggernaut. I had been writing songs for years, recording them on a Tascam four track with a crappy ten dollar microphone as the digital world passed me by. I chose the songs on this record from a collection of more than two hundred. Here's a little life story for each track. 'Soda Jerk' It seems like a flirty, smart ass song about girls, but the truth is, it was inspired by Elvis' early relationship with Priscilla. He had legal guardianship over her when she was still underage. Her parents agreed. Nobody could say no to him. What a different world. 'Lollipop' This song was inspired by my complicated thoughts about Christmas and how we are programmed to spend money whether we have it or not. It's really about the media. I was thinking about that moment when we're young and we find out there is no Santa Claus. They take Santa away and leave shopping and The Devil. I think that's interesting. What if they took the Devil away and left Santa? 'A Sun Song' This song appears on the Canadian compilation: Project One Generation. One of my best friends, Ason, passed away a few years ago. He always told me that he was Italian. Later, I found out he was actually Cherokee (like me). His real name was Jim. His mother called him Randy. So my Italian friend Ason, was really a Cherokee named Randy. He was one of the most interesting dudes you'd ever meet. Everything he did was original and creative. He wrote in a microscopic calligraphy. He wore parachute pants ten years after anyone else and didn't know it. I called him 'yesterpants'. I miss him. 'I Can Hardly Wait' This song is just about waiting for an old friend to come over. The kind you used to date. The kind where the conversation always turns volatile. The kind you adore, respect and just can't be around. 'Genius At Aggravation' No one can push your buttons like the people you grew up with. This started off being about my father, then became about families in general. The lyric 'It's coming out, blissfully now...' It's about making a scene in public. Know anybody who does that? 'Tongue' For my sister. One bad ass chick. 'Antenna Man' Another song about the media. Technology is always promising to solve our problems, make things faster, easier. The internet has turned us into predators, lurkers, voyeurs. What are we looking for? 'Eyes Like Engines' Kind of a dreamscape. I knew a girl who was getting her pilot license. I kinda liked her. 'Good Education' Noam Chomsky once said: 'It takes a good education to not see the truth.' Maybe I was onto something during all those naps. 'By Broken Sea' Eventually everything comes back around. Even people you never thought you'd see again. Nostalgia is a private detective. 'A Smile Behind' My friend Ason again. He once criticized the way I was throwing a football. He took out a pen and pad and wrote out mathematically what the physics should be for a tight aerodynamic spiral. Then he threw the ball, it wobbled aimlessly onto my porch and broke a planter. They are really just twelve pop songs with words that rhyme. I can't help it, I grew up in the eighties. Thanks for reading and, hopefully, listening. Randy Redroad.